In the marshy mists of a village churchyard, a tiny orphan boy named Pip is suddenly terrified by a shivering, limping convict on the run. Years later, a supremely arrogant young Pip boards the coach to London where, by the grace of a mysterious benefactor, he will join the ranks of the idle rich and "become a gentleman." Finally, in the luminous mists of the village at evening, Pip the man meets Estella, his dazzingly beautiful tormentor, in a ruined gardenand lays to rest all the heartaches and illusions that his "great expectations" have brought upon him. Dickens's biographer, Edgar H. Johnson, has said thatexcept for the author's last-minute tampering with his original endingGreat Expectations is "the most perfectly constructed and perfectly written of all Dickens's works." In John Irving's Introduction to this edition, the novelist takes the view that Dickens's revised ending is "far more that mirror of the quality of trust in the novel as a whole." Both versions of the ending are printed here.
In the marshy mists of a village churchyard, a tiny orphan boy named Pip is suddenly terrified by a shivering, limping convict on the run. Years later, a supremely arrogant young Pip boards the coach to London where, by the grace of a mysterious benefactor, he will join the ranks of the idle rich and "become a gentleman." Finally, in the luminous mists of the village at evening, Pip the man meets Estella, his dazzingly beautiful tormentor, in a ruined gardenand lays to rest all the heartaches and illusions that his "great expectations" have brought upon him. Dickens's biographer, Edgar H. Johnson, has said thatexcept for the author's last-minute tampering with his original endingGreat Expectations is "the most perfectly constructed and perfectly written of all Dickens's works." In John Irving's Introduction to this edition, the novelist takes the view that Dickens's revised ending is "far more that mirror of the quality of trust in the novel as a whole." Both versions of the ending are printed here.
Great Expectations (Bantam Classics Series)
458Great Expectations (Bantam Classics Series)
458Paperback(Mass Market Paperback - Bantam Classics Edition)
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Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780553213423 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Random House Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 08/01/1982 |
Series: | Bantam Classics Series |
Edition description: | Bantam Classics Edition |
Pages: | 458 |
Sales rank: | 151,231 |
Product dimensions: | 6.88(w) x 10.92(h) x 0.91(d) |
Age Range: | 14 - 18 Years |
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